‘Tis the Season…to Plan the Season

Ah, summer, a different set of Three R’s for us educators: a time to recharge, to rest, to relax. Recharging is probably the most important thing. The school year (despite what one hears from people whom I’m sure have never taught) is intense: a class can always be made better, a rehearsals can always be planned better, maybe this piece should be faster, maybe that soloist needs a bit more coaching, perhaps I shuld explain that poem to my singers in a different way…

I don’t feel guilty in the slightest when I spend more time in June on my deck with a book and a beer than doing anything else. But come July, I figure it’s time to put the following year in order. I’ve pecked away at it in May and June (especially mentally), but July is serious.

I have a kind of hierarchy to my planning, which over the years has been molded by certain deadlines that are not really mine. Here’s one: When does the Pro Musica season need to be finalized, when does the brochure need to be printed? Here’s another: How much time do my accompanists need to learn the music for the first rehearsal? That’s a pretty big one. And of course there’s the whole How long will it take to order the music and catalog it and stamp it and get it into folders so we can hand it out.

Sometimes (okay, often) I plan seasons or concerts in my head for “someday.” Fall 2012 is already sketched out in my brain, even though Fall 2011 isn’t finalized! Pro Musica’s big choral-orchestral concert, which we call The Great Choral Tradition, in sketched out – actually on paper! (well, a Word file) – for the next 5 years. The large gestures like these are easy.

But the nitty-gritty, ah, that’s hard. Our first subscription concert this fall, Nov 5 and 6, will feature music for chorus and a large variety of percussion instruments, and I had this sketched out in a very general way 6 months ago. But the details: Which pieces exactly, which movements exactly, how long will the concert be if I do all those piece, can we learn this much music, are there too many slow pieces, or too many loud pieces, or…

So, in May, I check that I have all the music scores and CDs I need, ordering what’s missing. Then I sit for 3 days (in this case) and listen intensely to the pile of possibilities. By this time I’m ready to make decisions, and I absolutely love when I listen to a piece and don’t want to conduct it. That is, it really helps when I can eliminate pieces because I always start with way too many. Sometimes I surprise myself. I was sure I would choose one of two Eric Whitacre pieces for November, and I rejected them both! For this year, at least.

And what’s left is SO cool. And I can tell I did okay with the choosing, because I’m really excited about this concert!

So, chorus and percussion – a done deal! (Except for ordering the music, ordering the parts, details like that…) then a piece for UA Chorale for that accompanist to start learning. (I have to remember that my accompanists might want to relax and recharge also!) And now, working on September and October, earlier but smaller concerts than the November ones, and fleshing out January and June.

And then all too soon it will begin to look a lot like Christmas. I have a concept, a broad outline. But the details, ah the details…